Page 92 (?) finished. Don't really need to add any more behind the scenes as it went pretty much as it was explained last post. There will be more background next page, not only because it's part of what's going on but because I don't want the song to go on too long without a reminder of where they are.

 

A little more behind the scenes as I start another page. The one thing I've left out here is the somewhat embarrassing reference photo I took of myself. The poses I either make up or try and copy from searches. Then comes the pencil sketch, the inking, the vectorizing and then coloring. This is where I am so far. And already the page numbering is messed up! Ah, well...

 Page 91 done. Except I don't think it's page 91. Haven't done the curtain pages yet, which means the numbers are off. Should probably do that next before moving on, otherwise the whole thing will be wrong and it will totally mess me up later. I like my little punks. They're fun to draw.

 Managed to get a lot of work done on the next page today. All I really need is the word balloons at this point. Worked specifically on the mouth shapes as I wanted it to look like they were speaking the words that will be in the balloons. We'll see how it goes.

 109 elements are what it took for this. That includes scanned sketches, inked versions and vectorized versions of things. I'm not sure how many elements are in the page itself. A lot. There was a lot of playing about at the end, adjusting colors, sizes, transparencies and overlays. This is what I want. Not only does it feel like there's some action going on but it feels like the characters are even graffiti-ing over themselves. I managed to use both bright colors and that midnight orange that pervades act 1. I think it works. I will have to make 'curtain' versions of this page to precede this but that's easy enough to do. Though it took a lot for this, it was fun to do.

 Got a lot done today. Got the rest of the first bunch of mice done in the background, did all three mid ground mice and got the foreground ones in as well. I just need to do their word balloons, make final adjust mens and I'll be done. The page is pretty neatly divided in two. I'm not sure I mind that. I'll have to see if I break that a little bit with the balloons. It's a little TOO linear at the moment but otherwise, I think it's working. My partner said he likes the more active, "3D" quality to the characters, which I appreciated. I also am trying to work more with actual mouth shapes for what they're saying.

 I swear I'm not trying to bloat my post numbers. These are the three drawings that won't be seen for the first set of characters. The way they're depicted, without lines, wouldn't look right without these having been done first. It just means that these versions will otherwise never been seen. Procreate ink over real pencil.

 Slight progress. Now I have the whole first set of mice in there. They're in their primary glory back there. What's going to be a trick is making all three sets separate and viewable at the same time. There might be some more overlays to come. At least I'm making forward movement.

 Gah, I did it. I knew I shouldn't, but I did. I turned all the line layers off and...I really like this. I think I would add just the windows of the building at the far back but otherwise, this has a vibe I think is really cool. There I go, giving myself trouble and second guessing myself again. Must stop.

EDIT: Did it. Grrrr.

Process: Editing

 

Process. As I start adding figures to the opening page, there's a few things I'm trying to depict and keep in mind. First off, this is, in a way, a stage play. So I want the characters to "enter" the scene. The song will start but I want it to feel like performers on a stage. So there will be three sets of the mice, moving closer to the viewer. I'm starting with the set furthest away first. Smatt was up, so I took the ref photo, had it up on my screen, sketched it in pencil, scanned it the sent that image to my iPad. In Procreate, I inked it then sent the inked sketch back to my computer where I turned it into a vector image. Then, I dropped it into the file with the background, used the palette from one of the test images I did earlier and then resized the image, placing it far into the background. Something wasn't quite right, though, so I applied one of my usual fixes: I dropped out the line layer. Sure enough, the colored shapes alone told the story and, at that distance, showed that the lines really didn't matter. Like a spotlight, because of his bright colors, he draws your eye right back past all the graffiti to him. This will be different when I get the other figures in but so far, I like where this is going.

Do I regret the time I "wasted" inking the character? No, not at all. Because I wouldn't have got the shapes the way I did if I hadn't. It's also inking practice which is never bad. This is how I got to the style of the 'cutout' portraits and that worked out well, too.

I guess the point is that, because I work digitally, the editing process is possibly the longest part of the process. As I do each figure, I'll be resizing, rechecking the palette, moving them about and making other adjustments until the whole thing works together to my eye. This means that composition, final composition comes last. I don't recommend this approach, it's simply the way I've learned to work.

Note: in the pencil sketch, as usual, I drew the character in the wrong place so ran out of room for his right hand, which I had to draw separately and then re-attach in Procreate.

 I think, until I actually have characters to go into it, the background's done. Tons of tags and graffiti all placed and warped, colored and shaded. In the end, I also added gradients to the ground and building in the back which added a bit more depth. Also added shadows under the dumpsters. A detail likely lost is that, underneath the graffiti on the walls, there are areas of a lighter shade. This represents where the building owners painted over the last smattering of graffiti. Now to pose for ref for the mice, draw them and then get them in. I'll also have to make the curtain pages. I think this thing is now back on the schedule.

 It's coming along. Slowly. Each piece of graffiti has to be designed and then re-sized and warped into place. Though it sounds dumb, it's actually a lot easier to design them all straight on and then twist them where I want them into the background. I will then also be able to use them later but man does it make for a lot of layers in both Procreate and Affinity Designer.

 Starting on the new act. The alley was hard enough to do and I admit there is some tracing there. If I hadn't, I honestly would have stalled for a long time. There's still a lot of editing done, warping and choices when inking. I don't honestly like doing it if I don't have to so I only do it rarely. With the lines and colors down, now it's time for the graffiti. The whole alley has to be full of it which means lots of different pieces and tags, all designed to look like they're by different people. There's also going to be a lot of color here though still muted by the orange overlay. When the mice come in, they will not be so tinged. THEN we'll see how this is going to work.

 A test with character and background together. While the background drawing is new, the other elements were just lifted from other pieces. The point was to see if what was in my head was going to actually work or not. I think it will. Simple line work for the backgrounds and near monochrome palettes for each mouse. Graffiti will be the colorful part of the background, the rest of it will be that dull orange that everyone loved so much from Act 1. It's the element that will connect them visually together and, at least to my mind, it makes sense. Balancing all the colors is going to be interesting to say the least.

 A test for Terry with his proper colors. While I drew the last one freehand, this one I resorted to distorting the pencil sketch, then inking over that. I rather like the warped view but I bet that doesn't go over well, either. I think keeping the mice more or less monochrome per mouse even when they overlap will allow me to bring a lot more color in while still managing some control. Just a quick sketch this morning. I need to do one with more of a background. I think there will be some more stylistic influence from the "Smatt's Journey" comic besides the lettering. Nearly ready to go.

 Working off the idea of yesterday of using primaries for the three mice, this is "yellow"...ish. Rooster gets yellow because of that mohawk. The style is starting to gel, at least for me. I can tell because response is at an all time low. That's how I know I'm on the right track! There will be more for backgrounds; I just wanted something I could do quickly for these tests.

 Are your eyes bleeding? I was listening to some psych rock today and looking at some psych posters. Again, trying to push the palette. This time, I think I went a little too far, but that's good, too. I tried a few different types of lettering but then went to the style I made for the "Smatt's Journey" comic. It might work. It has a different feel and I don't know if I want something like this or the style I was using in Act 1, which looks like markered graffiti. I have time to play around, so I will.

 Another test in the same vein as the last one though with very different colors. This one is more or less in the kind of color palette as Act 1 and yet not like that at all. Still playing about. Graffiti is usually very colorful, so while I like this and it might be more "realistic," it might be good to stretch things a bit and make them less homogenous. But we'll see. Almost ready to start the comic up again but not quite.

 First new image of the new year, though not the first thing I've drawn. I really wanted to do some studies for Act 2 to get a feel of what I can do, how I can push, how I can make it different. One of the obvious things is to push the color palettes. The trick will be to keep it connected to Act 1. I also want to keep the kinetic energy of the last track. Took a couple of tries and some warping but I got something that feels more or less like what I want. I like the colors but am not sure how to connect them with older stuff. We'll see how it goes.

 I suppose this should have gone up last night. Unlike the earlier grid, this is my personal best for 2020. They represent my strongest portraits, the most dynamic of the comics, the one realistic digital painting I did which was a lot more successful than I thought it would be and that one, odd t-shirt design. Only one image is a crossover, and it happens to be my favorite of the bunch; the self portrait in the middle. I really like the colors, I like the minimalism and I like the real media feel even though it's totally done on the iPad. The comics had more movement this year, the portraits were more experimental and I even played about with some watercolor style stuff which made me happy. Here's hoping I have as strong a showing this year.